Harry Potter and the Cursebreaker's Code
by LunasSecretLover
Summary: Auror Harry Potter is bored with his life of paperwork and monotony when he is given an opportunity to apprehend a possible dark wizard in Egypt. Leaping at the chance, he must learn how to work with curse-breakers, Sphinxes, and perhaps worst of all, Draco Malfoy in order to complete his mission successfully.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter sighed as he looked out the fake window of his cubicle. It was raining outside today. The skies were grey and forlorn. Harry hoped that didn't have something to do with his mood. Or, if it did, that no one else was affected by it. He looked at the large stack of interdepartmental memos in front of him glumly. They were grey too, and he knew he would have to deal with at least a few of them before heading home. He looked at the top one.

 _Harry-_

 _I need you to be prepared to give a statement on the detainment of Arsikov. I know you weren't directly involved, but the public will react more favorably if the news of his death comes from your mouth._

 _K.S._

The death eater had been wounded by a few aurors during his capture, and although Harry couldn't say for certain, he thought that they had probably done it purposefully. Arsikov had committed a few particularly nasty crimes against women and children, and many wizards wanted him dead. The man had died later in Azkaban, and now it was apparently up to Harry to justify the use of force against him. Not that most of the public would mind that he had died, with any luck. He sent an affirmative reply to Kingsley and picked up the next memo.

 _Mr. Potter-_

 _One of my curse-breakers has discovered a strange new string of runes in Egypt that look to be the work of a dark witch or wizard unknown. We are not sure if this wizard has been dealt with by Egyptian authorities or not, but while we work with their government, we have permission to send a small team of aurors and curse-breakers to unofficially investigate further. I realize that this is outside the scope of your normal duties, but Head Auror White has spoken very highly of you and recommended you for this position. As it is not official ministry business, you have the option of choosing whether or not to go. It is expected that you will be in Egypt for no less than a month, working with two curse-breakers, one Egyptian, one British, and an Egyptian expert in ancient runes. Give me word within the next two days if you are interested._

 _R. L. Craftford_

 _Head of Curse Breaking and Neutralization Office_

 _Order of Merlin Second Class_

Harry's heart leapt with excitement for a moment. Here was finally an opportunity to go out into the world and do the things he had dreamed of doing when he became an auror. The things he was GOOD at. Actually fighting dark wizards, and solving mysteries, instead of sitting at his desk doing paperwork, or following half-leads to death eaters that ended up being false trails. In Egypt, which was one of the most exciting places in the magical community. Then his heart fell. Ginny wouldn't want him to go. And things had already been a bit rocky the past few months. Harry knew that his girlfriend was expecting him to propose soon. They had been together for six years after all, and with Ron and Hermione getting married last year she had been getting particularly anxious to tie the knot. He wasn't exactly sure why he didn't want to. His relationship with Ginny was stable. She was pretty, and he loved her family. He loved Ginny too, of course, but both of them had explosive tempers, and Ginny was too stubborn to ever let him win a fight, so he had begun to hide things from her. Little things, of course, about why he was unhappy.

They hadn't had sex in over six months, and honestly, Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep with her ever again. He still wanted to be having sex, just, not with Ginny. Sometimes he stayed up all night agonizing about their relationship, and whether he should end things, or marry her, or if he had any other options, and he still wasn't sure what the right choice was. But he knew that if he left for a month, Ginny might not stay around long enough for him to decide. Nevertheless. He might not get another opportunity like this for years. Every piece of his heart was begging him to take it, to escape from the monotony that was suffocating him, even if it was only for a month. Harry took a deep breath, and penned a letter back to Craftford accepting the assignment.

As soon as he sent the memo on its way, Harry felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. He found himself looking forward to the future in a way he hadn't in a long time. The rest of the memos and paperwork flew by quickly, and even the sky looked a little brighter. Craftford came down to his office as he was preparing to leave, a large smile on his round face. The older man cast a few charms around the cubicle to keep eavesdroppers away and then turned to Harry.

"Mr. Potter! I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Roger Craftford, head of the Curse-Breaking office." The portly man extended his hand to Harry, and Harry felt himself grinning back.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you've decided to go to Egypt. I know that with all of your experience you'll be excellent."

"I'm honored that you considered me, sir." Craftford waved his hand dismissively, as if it was ridiculous that the Chosen One would be honored at anything he had to say.

"Now, I'll want you to leave on Monday to go join the team that's already in Egypt. I'll arrange a portkey for you. This is a very discrete mission, you understand? The Egyptian government wants this dealt with quietly so there is no panic. We'll need to arrange for some polyjuice potion for you and the others, to change identities as often as possible. We have a young man who has made some strides in speeding up the process considerably. He's damn talented with most potion making, really. I'm sending him with you, in case anyone needs a healer or if there are any problems with the other potions you're bringing along. I think you two know each other. Draco Malfoy?"

Harry nodded, and felt his heart leap unexpectedly. He and Malfoy had been on cordial terms since the end of the war. They said hello to each other in the lifts and made comments about the weather. Somehow, now that they worked together, it was possible to forget that they had hated each other for years. That Malfoy had been a Death Eater. That they had saved each others' lives. Now the two of them could just peacefully coexist, not getting too close, working in the same building but never the same department. Harry almost missed Malfoy's constant animosity. It would be interesting, at the very least, to work with him more closely.

"Anyways, he will be joining you on Monday to travel to Egypt. I will send you a memo with the specifics of what you should bring, but I just wanted to introduce myself and give you a short briefing now. It seems very clear to my curse-breaker out there that this is the work of dark magic. I hope you lot will be able to take care of it before this gets out of control. Have a good weekend, Mr. Potter, I'll be in touch."

Harry stared after his retreating back, wondering if the other man had even noticed that he hadn't let Harry get in more than a few words. He shook his head and grabbed his coat to leave. Ron gave him a miserable wave on his way out. The piles on Ron's desk seemed to be right on the verge of tipping over and he would clearly be there for a while longer.

On impulse, Harry decided to stop by Hermione's office in the Regulation of Magical Creatures' Department. Hermione was the only person he could talk to about the Ginny situation, since Ron was her brother, and he figured Hermione would know the best way to break the news about him leaving. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of the dung of many magical creatures, he made his way to the back of the department offices to find Hermione scribbling furiously away at her desk. She was one of three people that he could see still working. Harry knocked at her open door tentatively, and Hermione jumped half a foot in the air, spilling her ink all over herself.

"Merlin's Beard, Harry, just because you're an auror doesn't mean you have to move so quietly! Help me clean this mess up."

" _Scorgify,"_ they said in unison, and the ink disappeared from Hermione's robes, seeming to be sucked into their wands.

"Sorry," Harry said. "What are you working on?"

"It's a new proposal for the rights of house elves in Great Britain. I need to have legal look it over before I bring it to the Wizengamot, though. It's really very shoddy right now. I haven't had much time with it, what with everything else going on. How are you? Ron says you lot have been up to your noses in work since Arsikov."

"The minister seems to be punishing all of us for that mess with filing proper paperwork," Harry said with a grimace. "Aurors really aren't meant for paperwork."

"Is that why you decided to go to Egypt?" Harry stared at her in shock.

"What?"

Hermione folded her arms. "Honestly, Harry, you should have thought this through better. They sent someone to talk to Ginny about it already, so you wouldn't accidentally give away confidential information. She flooed me earlier. She seemed pretty distraught."

"Damn. Alright," Harry said, lies of being ordered to visit Egypt for work vanishing from his mind faster than the ink had left Hermione's robes. "Why did she floo you and not me?"

Hermione sighed. "Harry. With all of the fighting you two have been doing lately she's on eggshells. She didn't want to upset you or push you over the edge to breaking up with her or seem controlling."

Harry felt a familiar twinge of guilt at the thought of Ginny grip his mind for a moment. "Well what does she expect me to do?"

"She expects you to love her, which you don't." Hermione's voice was level and sympathetic as she laid a hand on Harry's. "You KNOW you don't, Harry. Why do you keep torturing both of you like this?"

"I do love her, in a way, Hermione. What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to end things."

Harry let out a bitter chuckle. "Easy for you to say. If I lose Ginny, I lose all of the Weasleys. I lose Christmas. I lose bloody everyone who I care about, who will see me as the heartless bastard who broke her heart. Not to mention the media. Merlin, they'll have a field day with this."

"Harry," Hermione said sternly. "You need to end this. Now."

"Oh, bloody hell. I suppose right before I leave for a month is a good a time as any. Come get a drink or eight with me."

"Ok, just give me a moment." Hermione waved her wand gracefully, setting her desk in order and they walked out of the ministry. "You need to stop talking to Ron."

"What? Why?"

"You said 'bloody' about five times in there."

A few hours later, Harry was feeling full of liquid courage and far less nervous at the idea of breaking up with Ginny. He and Hermione had rehearsed a whole breakup speech at the bar, and Harry repeated it to himself over and over as he fumbled with his keys and somehow made it into their flat.

"Harry? Is that you?" A red head poked up from the couch pillows and Harry felt that pang of guilt again. Clearly she had been waiting up for him, and rather than going home to speak to her immediately, he had gone out drinking, unable to even do her the courtesy of breaking up with her sober. Some Gryffindor.

"Yeah, 'lo Ginny." She stood up to greet him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on him, or, rather, trying to. Harry awkwardly turned his head to the side, arms coming up to gently push Ginny's arms away. "Look, ah, we need to talk."

Ginny backed away from him, a hard expression on her face. "You're going to Egypt for a month. Yes. The ministry told me."

"Yeah, and also-"

"I want to come with you, Harry."

"You- what?" Two sentences in, and already Harry's prepared speech was destroyed.

"I want to come with you. I figure that if we really love each other, we shouldn't be apart for a month. And I'm good with hexes. I could end up being useful."

Harry ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it from the roots. "Ginny, I don't want-"

"I won't be a burden. I promise. I can handle myself."

"Ginny, no one is saying you can't handle yourself."

"Then why can't I go with you?"

Harry sighed, leading her to sit down on the couch. "Gin, you know I love you. I really do. But this isn't working. We aren't good for each other. I think that this relationship is making us both miserable… and shit." Forgetting the end of the line, he improvised.

"I've got to do what's best for both of us. And put a finish to this relationship." Harry could feel his words slur together, and took a gulp of air to stave off the buzz he was feeling.

"Harry, are you breaking up with me?" Ginny asked incredulously. Harry watched miserably as the recognition dawned on her face, and she suddenly looked as though she'd been punched. "Why?"

"I'm not happy."

"But. I love you." Ginny appeared to be in a state of shock, but true to her nature she looked far from crying. "Are you gay, Harry? I've always wondered. I know you say you're bisexual, but-"

"I'm not gay, Gin," Harry said angrily. "This isn't about that. We don't make each other happy. You don't make me happy."

"Fine," Ginny said crossing her arms. "Then get out of my flat."

"This is OUR flat, Ginny, I'm on the lease-"

"If you don't get out of my flat in the next ten minutes, I will call the Prophet and tell them you're gay."

Harry stared at her, shocked that she would stoop so low. Her voice more gentle, Ginny continued, "I don't know what your issues are, Potter, but I don't want to have to stand here watching you figure them out after you leave me. I need you to leave tonight so I can process this." She turned away, long red hair fluttering behind her as she walked into their bedroom and closed the door. For a moment, Harry almost thought he heard a sob.

He hurriedly threw his most important belongings into a bag and left, stumbling down the streets aimlessly as he thought of where he should go. Grimmauld place was filled with aurors from out of the country for now, while the ministry rebuilt a safe house that had been destroyed by a dragon a few weeks ago. Ron and Hermione's wasn't an option either, in this case. Unwilling to bother any of his friends so late, Harry decided his best bet was to spend the night at his desk, and rent a hotel room for the next few nights. He apparated to the ministry, feeling lucky to have made it in one piece in his state. Drinking and apparition were frowned upon, especially for an auror.

"Potter?" Harry turned around in surprise, gripping his wand out of habit.

"Malfoy? Whateryou still doing here? It's two in the morning!"

"Finishing up a potion. A very time delicate one." Malfoy surveyed Harry's disarrayed state and sniffed haughtily. "What happened to you, Potter? You smell like a cheap whorehouse."

"Had a few drinks," he muttered, trying unsuccessfully to smooth his robes and hair.

"I'll floo your Weasley, have her come take you home," Malfoy said, uncharacteristically generous.

"Broke up!" Harry managed to get out. "I-err, broke up with her. I'm going to sleep here."

"Ah," Malfoy said impassively. "Well you're coming to sleep at my manor, then. I don't want to get sacked for letting the Famous Harry Potter sleep at a desk."

"No, no," Harry protested unconvincingly as the blond man grabbed his arm. In his inebriated state, Draco Malfoy's touch felt like lightning running through his arm. Harry looked up at him, suddenly noticing how strong he was, and how soft his blonde hair looked when it was slicked back like that. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he was being apparated, and his guts were compressed and twisted until he couldn't handle it.

"Gunna be sick," he said, and Draco leaped out of the way looking green as Harry threw up into his rose bushes. Malfoy vanished the vomit looking irritated, but his mouth curled into a sneer as he turned back to Harry.

"Good lord, Potter, did no one ever teach you how to hold your liquor? You're like a first year having his first butterbeer."

"I can handle it, Malfoy," Harry protested angrily. "I drank more than you could handle in a month tonight."

"TWO butterbeers?" Malfoy asked in fake astonishment.

"Shove off."

"Get your drunk arse inside. I expect you to make sure you haven't killed any roses in the morning. The gardener doesn't come until Tuesday." Harry leaned on Malfoy slightly as they headed for a guest room, muttering curses and insults at his childhood enemy as he did so. Malfoy pointedly ignored him, dumping him onto the bed unceremoniously and leaving, shutting the door after him. Harry stared at the ceiling of the room, waiting for that guilt to hit him again but it didn't. He had ended the guilt, and somehow, after all of the drama of the day he felt free.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunday was uneventful and passed too quickly. Harry spent most of the day talking with Ariadne, while Draco and Astoria were out of the house doing who knows what, and eating the homemade cauldron cakes she and Astoria had made. Surprisingly, the reticent woman was an excellent conversationalist, and had lived an incredibly interesting life before coming to live at the Malfoy Manor. Harry wasn't sure whether or not to believe the parts of her story about the vampires that assisted her in hiding from the Ministry during Voldemort's reign, but the way she spoke of it made him give her the benefit of the doubt. Especially when she showed him the scars that crisscrossed her torso compliments of Fenrir Greyback. Harry was quite sad to be leaving the next day when he retreated to his rooms.

Draco still hadn't returned by the time he'd gone to bed, and Harry wondered if that was a normal occurrence in this strange house. _It must be a strange kind of freedom to know that your wife didn't expect you home at an early hour, and that you were expected to be screwing your secretary,_ Harry thought, imagining Ginny's reaction if he were to stay out all night without telling her where he was.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but the next thing he knew he was being poked awake by an irritated Draco Malfoy.

"Potter, get up." Malfoy was prodding at him gingerly as if he had a contagious skin disease. "We have to catch the portkey in an hour, and if you make us miss it, I swear to Merlin-"

"Mm up, I promise," Harry muttered, grabbing his glasses as he blearily looked up at his tormentor. "What the hell are you doing in my room, Malfoy?" he asked reflexively, grabbing for his wand. Malfoy gave him a glare as if he were far too stupid to be alive, and stalked out the door.

"It's my bloody room, Potter, they're all my rooms."

Harry recognized his mistake as he struggled to reach full consciousness, making a mental note to apologize later. He quickly grabbed his bags and got dressed; knowing Malfoy, he'd leave Harry behind to find the portkey entirely on his own if given a reason to do so. He stumbled out of his room and cursed to himself trying to find the front door. Luckily, Ariadne appeared, and like her namesake, led him out of the mazes of her home. She embraced him warmly and wished him well, although Harry could see Draco staring at him with impatient contempt over her shoulder. He hurriedly caught up to the blond who was ignoring them as they walked down the street.

"What time is it?" Harry asked, trying to keep his eyes open.

"Quarter to three," Malfoy answered with a glare. "Ministry wanted us to avoid the muggles. And your hopeless fan club. Also if we arrive early enough we can save on polyjuice potion."

Harry found himself almost tripping in the dim wand light, and decided to focus on the path in front of him instead of interrogating the already irate man beside him. He caught Draco smirking at his stumble and scowled. Eventually they reached a neon pink frisbee sticking out of a hill.

"That must be it," Harry said. Draco nodded and picked it up.

"We're barely on time," Malfoy said, giving his watch a relieved sigh. "Grab hold unless you want to stay here, Potter." Harry grabbed onto the old muggle object moments before it whizzed them away unpleasantly. He felt a rush of warm air as he landed on the ground with a loud thud, and was relieved to see Malfoy quickly picking himself up and dusting his robes. He did the same as he surveyed their surroundings open-mouthed. They had arrived in what appeared to be the Valley of the Kings and Harry had never seen anything so magnificent. A massive rock face erupted from the sandy landscape in front of him, carved by the currents of the Nile river. The sheer massiveness of it struck Harry to his core. There were a few people milling about, despite the early hour, who seemed as awestruck as Harry. He noted what appeared to be a group of witches, or eccentric muggle women, doing some form of meditation at the closest tomb to him, sitting on the steps of the entrance and chanting in latin. Draco appeared far less enthused.

"The moment bloody inter-continental apparition becomes legal, I am never using one of those things again." He looked a bit off color, Harry thought, although that could be the brightness of the morning sunlight hitting his pale skin. "And it's far too hot already. Let's get inside."

Malfoy gestured to a nearby tomb impatiently, as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Harry frowned a little as he followed him, wondering why the Head of Cursebreaking had explained to Malfoy what to do when they got here and not Harry. They wandered in through the cavelike entrance, and Harry was surprised when about ten feet in the corridor widened into a large room well lit by the wizards and witches inhabiting it. One of them, a larger Egyptian man turned to Malfoy and Harry, looking pleased to see them.

"Ah, Auror Potter, Mister Malfoy," he said, with the barest hint of an accent as he reached out a hand to shake Harry's. "It is an honor to have you here."

"The pleasure is all mine," Harry replied with a grin, firmly returning the shake.

"I am Medo Said. I work in curse breaking, as you say, for the Egyptian government. This is Fatima Almasi. She is very knowledgeable in runes." Medo gestured towards a pretty woman whose hair was covered by a hijab, and Harry reached out to shake her hand, but Malfoy pushed his arm back with a warning glance. The blond man inclined his head at her politely, a gesture she returned with a smile.

"And this is her cousin Haroon. He mostly becomes in the way." A man on the floor waved at them with a fake glare at Medo.

"I am the auror from the Egyptian team," he clarified, rolling his eyes at the larger man. "The American is expected to arrive shortly. Welcome to Egypt, my friends. Have you been here before?"

"Yes. I came here for the Christmas holidays while I was in school," Draco said. "Mostly Cairo, though."

"Ah, Cairo is beautiful. Valley of the Kings is beautiful too. Both should be seen. We shall wait for the American to come before explaining what we found. But if you like, you may look in the first rooms of this tomb. A great Pharaoh named Horemheb is enshrined here. Obviously the magical protections hide most of the rooms, but there is much to see in the first few rooms, if you would like." Draco looked interested, so they headed into the next room. Haroon looking eager to have an audience followed them.

"This is the antechamber. You can see on the walls Nut and Horus, as well as many other ancient Egyptian Gods. Horemheb was a devotee of Horus in particular. And he was a great warrior as you can see depicted here." Harry tried to look engaged. This was better than a history lecture by Professor Binns, after all, but his mind was so used to ignoring history class that he had a difficult time focusing.

"He came to power as a commoner, and the first wizard in his family. He was a great general for Tutankhamun and Ay, as you can see depicted here. Excellent wizard," Haroon said proudly. "A shame his bloodline ended with him." Harry stared at the paintings, admiring the preservation of them after so long. Haroon raised his wand and gestured them into the next room.

"This is a fake room or a trap room. For muggles and graverobbers. The walls are not quite finished, although part of the Book of Gates is written on them. Behind the paintings of the gates is the real tomb. Which I promise to show you." Harry glanced at Malfoy, hoping for a companion to share his boredom with, but Malfoy appeared enthralled, and had no insulting comments to give. "The fake burial chamber was found with the remains of several women in it. No one is sure why. Perhaps the Nobles did not want to take the time to create their own tombs. Too lazy."

Haroon led them all around the tomb, including a particularly difficult section of stairs that appeared on the verge of crumbling, explaining the different historical facts enthusiastically. Harry couldn't help but think exploring the tomb would be far more exciting if he were to do it without a tour guide, and considered sneaking back in under his invisibility cloak later. After what seemed like a decade, they made their way back to the entrance where they found a woman in scarlet robes that matched her glasses waiting for them. Her brown hair was cropped short, above her ears, and she had scars on every visible patch of skin. She appeared to be in her forties, but her eyes seemed older somehow, sunken slightly into her face as though she hadn't slept in years.

"Hello," she said, brusquely reaching out her hand. "I'm Sarah Gardner. Lead Cursebreaker for the MACUSA."

"Pleasure," Draco said, with an almost charming half-smile that no one but Harry could see held a hint of mockery.

"So let's see these runes, then," Sarah said, walking towards the antechamber as though she owned the tomb.

"Before we do," Medo said nervously, "We should explain what we found. We are trying to keep it under wraps for now, so we do not incite a panic. The runes are drawn in blood. There were seven bodies found mutilated underneath them."

"Mutilated how?" Sarah asked.

"Their hearts were removed, dagger wounds inflicted to the chest. If you must see them, we can arrange it through a pensive." Harry shuddered involuntarily. He wondered if the British government had been given all of the details on the case before sending a team here. He imagined not.

"We left everything else in the room untouched. We are hoping that we can discover what happened. But, as you will see, not all of the runes appear decipherable, so we thought it best to bring in an expert." He nodded towards Fatima, who looked curious, as if she had not seen the rooms behind the Gate either. Medo strode to the large painting of the gate above the remains of a sarcophagus and tapped the top of it three times, in a similar way to the entrance to Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron, Harry supposed, and the wall dissolved in front of them. He drew in a sharp breath, and felt Malfoy, Fatima and Sarah do the same, as he suddenly realized the need for international cooperation on what seemed like an internal case. The centermost symbol was the mark of the Deathly Hallows.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah made a sign to ward off evil

Fatima spoke for the first time, her voice low and afraid. "Grindelwald's mark."

"Almost certainly," Medo replied gravely. "This is why we did not reveal anything to our public. The kind of panic an incident like this would cause is not thinkable."

"The seven killed," Harry asked slowly. "Were they muggles or wizards?"

"Muggles. And all had marks of magic on them in death."

"So a fanatic who idolized Grindelwald is breaking into tombs, leaving cryptic messages with the sign of a dark wizard and killing muggles. Why?" Harry asked incredulously.

"There may be some rite, or meaning to the runes," Fatima said. "I will research them."

"We do not know why. It could just be another Grindelwald copycat, and this could be the last we hear of it. Or it could be someone more dangerous."

Harry glanced over at Malfoy. He looked as though he was going to faint. His already pale face had whitened noticeably and beads of sweat were gathering on his forehead. Harry reached out an arm to steady the other man, in case he fell, but Malfoy shrugged him off with a sneer, stepping a few feet away.

"How should we proceed?" Malfoy asked, turning to Medo expectantly.

"We believe that the one behind this was interrupted before he was able to complete that which he wanted to do. There was another corpse near that door, a wizard, and when our suspect was discovered, he left signs of fleeing into the catacombs that connect the tombs."

"There are catacombs that connect the tombs?" Harry asked surprised. Haroon nodded.

"Yes, the wizard tombs. The catacombs were put in place to confuse intruders and kill them. There is a huge network of catacombs between the tombs. This is why we need curse-breakers with us. The passages are mostly unexplored and still dangerous. We have guards at every tomb known to contain passageway into the catacombs, so it is likely that our dark wizard is still inside. He might be dead by now, but we must find his body if that is the case.

"The first business is to track down the one that did this. Fatima will stay here and decipher the meaning of the codes and act as a liaison to our Egyptian government to let them know what is going on. The rest of us will go into the catacombs. No one is to tell anyone outside of this group about the markings or the dead muggles. Once we have apprehended the suspect, our group alone will hunt down any co-conspirators or post-mortem traps. Does anyone have a problem with this arrangement?"

Harry shook his head, and saw the others do the same. Although he hadn't known exactly what he was getting himself into, he had been in far worse situations for the sake of the wizarding community. And the thought of imminent danger was exciting after so much monotony, much to his shame. Harry couldn't remember the last time he had been afraid in the field. The lure of Egyptian perils was undeniable.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you have a large enough supply of polyjuice potion for at least a week? You, Mr. Potter and I should require it for any time we are in public, or entering and exiting the catacombs. They span for hundreds of miles of twists and passages, with a few outlets to the surface, so we must be prepared for the worst. The others are not high profile enough to need it, excepting emergencies"

"I do," he replied quietly. "And healing potions as well."

"Excellent. I have supplies of food and water. Then we leave within the hour. Take care of any last minute needs, all of you. And steel your nerves. The catacombs of Ancient Egypt are perilous enough on their own, without a wanted criminal hiding within them." With that, Medo strode out of the cave looking purposeful. Harry looked around at his companions, who looked as lost as he felt. Malfoy was intently studying his fingernails, while Sarah was kicking a loose rock up against the wall of the tomb. Haroon glanced around nervously, then moved to follow Medo out of the tomb. Fatima alone looked as though she knew what she was doing; she had produced a thick, old-looking book and was skimming through it rapidly, frowning at the symbols on the wall and her book.

"I'm going to get some air," Harry said eventually, feeling awkward. He left the cool, cave-like rooms and stepped out into the light of day once more. The day was hot already, and Harry enjoyed the feeling of the bright sun on his skin as he let his eyes adjust. He sat against the wall of the tomb and closed his eyes, soaking up the sunshine before he lost it for as long as it would take to find the murderer.

Hearing someone stepping on the rocks beside him, Harry squinted up into the sun. Malfoy took a seat next to him on the ground and smirked at him.

"Ready for adventure, Potter? You finally get a chance to be a hero again." Malfoy's tone was slightly bitter, but Harry ignored the barb.

"I'm ready. I do things like this every week as an auror," he lied, hoping that Draco wouldn't know enough about the auror office to call his bluff. Harry let his tone become more teasing as he continued. "Are you ready? _Scared, Malfoy?"_

Malfoy's smirk broadened. "You wish. Merlin, Lockhart was a prat."

"Do you remember Snape nearly knocking him out with a disarming charm? I think that was the only moment where I genuinely liked him. Bloody brilliant."

"Of course. You know, we never got to finish our duel. Even though you cheated I still would have won."

" _I_ cheated? You cast your first spell seconds too early!" Harry replied indignantly.

"All I remember is someone casting a terribly done _tarantallegra_ that kept my legs twitching for weeks when we were told specifically to only cast disarming spells." Malfoy's tone was serious, but the mocking smile on his face gave him away.

"You bloody git," Harry glowered, "NONE of your curses were disarming spells."

"Well maybe when this is all over we can have a rematch. The famous Harry Potter against the infamous Draco Malfoy."

"Slytherin versus Gryffindor. It will be the new Grindelwald and Dumbledore battle. People will be talking about it for centuries. Especially with our daring usage of _rictumsempra_ and _tarantallegra_." Malfoy chuckled at that, and Harry glanced at him surprised. He couldn't remember ever hearing a genuine laugh from the other man, and it was rather a nice sound.

"What do you suppose we'll find in there?" Malfoy asked, glancing towards the tomb.

"I dunno. Sphinxes? Snakes? Mummies? A muggle-murdering madman?"

"There's a reason I went into potion-crafting," Malfoy admitted, not meeting Harry's eyes. "Unlike you bloody Gryffindors, I don't usually love running head first into unknown peril."

"Then why did you agree to come?" Harry asked curiously.

Malfoy grinned and all trace of vulnerability disappeared from his voice. "I always wanted to see the Chosen One get chased by a mummy."

"Very funny." Harry smiled back, ecstatic to have someone to banter with again. The cruelness that used to color their interactions appeared to be gone, or at least muted now, and it was amazing to have someone that wasn't Ron or Hermione talk to him like this. Nearly everyone else treated him like an honored prophet or god these days, and it got old very quickly. "Where do you suppose Medo ran off to?"

"By the looks of him, off for a second breakfast. Maybe third." Harry felt his stomach grumble.

"We didn't eat breakfast," he noted.

"We would have eaten breakfast if someone hadn't behaved like a petulant child about getting out of bed this morning."

"Right," Harry said, a bit sadly. "You don't suppose we have time now?" Draco shrugged.

"Why not? We can apparate to the nearest populous area and grab some."

"Do you know where it is?" Malfoy sighed disdainfully and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I do, Potter. I, for one, like to do a little research into the places I visit. We are within the bounds of the city of Luxor, and there are shopping areas all along the Nile here for tourists. If we apparate a few miles east we're bound to find something. Let's say, two miles east. Ah, you'd better just apparate with me so you end up in the right spot." Harry blanched out of habit as Malfoy extended his hand, but he grasped it anyways. Again he felt a strange surge of arousal as Malfoy touched him. Their eyes met for a moment, and Harry could have sworn he saw lust in Malfoy's grey eyes, but a moment later they were being squeezed through the fabric of time and space and he had let go of Harry's hand. Thankfully, he didn't try to vomit on Draco this time.

Sure enough, they had apparated into a rather crowded street, for the early hour, full of tourists. No one seemed to bat an eye at the fact that two men had just appeared with a loud crack, and with all the sights and sounds of the morning, there was no wonder. Harry stared wide eyed at the shops and people, entirely out of his element. Luckily, Malfoy grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of a building before he could be trampled.

"Right," the blond man said. "It's not even 7 am yet here, so I doubt much will be open." Harry scanned the rows of shops appraisingly and noticed a few with english words. He grinned as he noticed the word "coffee" on one.

"Look, Malfoy, 'Aboudi Coffee Break," he said pointing. "'Always Open.' It's perfect."

"Perfect," Draco said, pulling Harry back as he almost stepped in front of a large cart. He dragged them into an alley between two buildings. "Oh, fuck, we should take polyjuice potion. I doubt many people look twice around here at robes, since this part of Egypt is PACKED with wizards, but seeing as neither of us is supposed to be here." He trailed off, fumbling under his robes for a flask. "This is yours for the time we're in Egypt. Two swallows will be enough."

Harry drank deeply from the flask, making a face at the bitter potion. He felt himself growing taller, and his hair was shooting into his head. There was a strange tingling sensation in his nose, and as Harry reached up to touch it, he realized that it had grown too. His robes were entirely too short for him now, and he self consciously tried to tug them down to cover his socks. He turned to look at Malfoy, and had to look down to find him. Of course Draco had picked a better looking man for himself, Harry thought. Draco was around the same height as normal, still with light blonde hair. It was longer, though, and hung onto his face. His eyes were a fierce blue, and his nose had changed somehow too. Harry thought that he still looked much like Malfoy, although that could have been the expression on the other man's face as he surveyed Harry.

"That look suits you, Potter," he said with a mocking grin, and Harry knew he must look awful. He let Malfoy lead them to the coffee shop, though; his stomach was too angry to let him stop and complain. The woman at the front took one look at them and shouted something in Arabic, gesturing at a younger woman. The younger one, a pretty Egyptian girl with a red headscarf on, hurried over to them with a smile.

"Welcome," she said in very good english. "Follow me, please." She led them to a table with two chairs by the window and gave them menus written in arabic and english.

"She speaks well. Everyone we've met here speaks english well," Harry said.

"This is a very touristy area, Potter," Draco drawled. "Probably half the people that come through here speak english." Harry busied himself with his menu, a little embarrassed.

He ended up ordering a brownie and some flavored coffee drink. Malfoy ordered a scone and a mimosa, much to Harry's chagrin.

"You can't drink that," he hissed. "We're going into a monster-infested catacomb as soon as we get back."

Draco gave him a lazy smile. "Well, then, you'll get a chance to save me if we run into any trouble. I know how much you love doing that. My job is to brew potions as we move and distribute them. I can do both of those things after having one alcoholic drink. Not all of us must get trashed every time we indulge."

Harry frowned, but let him have his drink without further comment. The rest of their breakfast passed with little small talk and many awkward silences. Harry was still annoyed, and shortly answered all of his companion's attempts at conversation. Eventually, Malfoy reminded him, gleefully, again of the night he had been so drunk he had wanted to sleep at his desk, though, and Harry reluctantly forgave him.

"Do you have any muggle money?" Draco hissed as their waitress brought them the bill.

Harry cursed under his breath. "Not any Egyptian muggle money." Draco's eyes widened.

"There are DIFFERENT kinds of muggle money?"

"Of course," Harry said. "Are there not different kinds of wizarding money?"

"Bloody hell, Potter, you know nothing! Of course there aren't. Why would there be different kinds?" Harry shrugged apologetically.

"Well what do we do?" Draco looked around them furtively.

"You do nothing. I'll handle this." As their waitress returned towards their table, Draco stood up, dragging Harry up with him, and gave her a winning smile. She smiled back, and Draco marched them out of the restaurant as if he owned the place.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked awestruck.

"My charms and natural good looks," Draco answered with a smile. "And I obliviated her." Harry rolled his eyes, but chose not to comment. He was hungry enough to have felt almost moral had he done the same thing. "We'd better get back. Dragons and sphinxes await."

"Are dragons native to Egypt?"

"Well I'm sure some are. I'm far too unlucky for us to not run into a dragon." Draco extended his hand again, an eyebrow raised at Harry. This time, Harry took it without hesitation, trying to ignore the pulsing warmth emanating from where he made contact with Draco.

Once again, Malfoy let go of his hand as soon as they arrived, briskly walking into the tomb. Harry found himself having to duck his head slightly to avoid brushing it against the entrance to the tomb.

"I am sorry, but there are no visitors allowed in this tomb today," Medo said hurriedly, trying to push them out of the first chamber.

"Said, it's Potter and Malfoy," Malfoy said impatiently, brushing the fat man's hands off of him.

"Oh," Medo said, relieved. He turned to Harry. "That is an excellent polyjuice potion, Mr. Malfoy."

"I'm Harry," Harry replied, bemused.

"Right, well, if you two are ready to go, we shall get moving. Haroon just returned as well. Mr. Malfoy, do you have a potion for me as well?" Draco nodded, and produced a flask with an S carved into the side. Harry realized his was emblazoned with a P.

"As we move farther into the catacombs, we will not need to continue taking the potion, but occasionally witches and wizards manage to slip in unspotted to the entrances of the catacombs. Usually young ones." he shook his head. "Cheers, as they say in England." He took several long gulps from his flask, making a face as if it had been soured milk. Harry watched in fascination as his brown skin paled and became a pasty white. His fat seemed to be sucked into his body through a straw- gathering around a penny-seized area and then disappearing. By the time his transformation was complete, he looked a little like Arthur Weasley. Harry held back a chuckle, and once again wondered who Draco had made _him_ look like.

"Right, then, let us depart," Medo said formally, walking back towards the tomb where Sarah and Haroon waited for them. Farhat gave them a departing smile, and wished them luck as Medo stepped through a small passageway near the corner of the back walls. Harry lit his wand and took a step into the dark. The passage was cooler than the rest of the tomb had been, and morbidly, Harry found himself wondering how old the air was. At least part of it had to be composed of the dead mummies that lived within the catacombs. He shuddered internally and turned his thoughts to something else. They walked in a single-file line with Medo at the front and him directly behind as they walked farther and farther from the safety of the tomb of a long-dead king.


	4. Chapter 4

The corridors were narrow and the air was strangely damp as they proceeded farther into the labyrinth-like catacombs. Occasionally, a drop of water would fall onto Harry's head, causing him to wince. He wondered how somewhere as dry as Egypt could possibly have enough water to contain dripping caves. Perhaps it had been enchanted that way, to demoralize intruders. In the dim wand light, Harry could make out strange markings on the walls, hieroglyphs he supposed, that almost seemed to glow out at him sinisterly. There were some shaped like eyes that even seemed to follow him as he walked. They had been walking for what felt like close to half an hour when Medo stopped them. The fat Egyptian man cursed under his breath and held a hand out, almost causing Harry to bump into him.

"Muggle got in," he explained, and maximized his wand light so that those behind him could see. There was a skeleton in front of them with three heads, each twisting around in a different direction. The curve of its spine was almost S-like, and it was obvious that the muggle must have died in excruciating pain. There was a pile of dust surrounding the skeleton, but Harry saw a modern watch on his wrist. With further inspection, he saw an iphone on the ground. He stared in horror at the entirely decomposed corpse, and wondered how it could possibly have deteriorated so quickly.

Medo began muttering under his breath, moving his wand in strange combinations that didn't match up with any spells that Harry knew of. He felt Sarah push past him and join Medo at breaking whatever curse had caused the poor sap who had wandered in here to deteriorate and grow extra heads. It was fascinating to watch them work. Clearly, both of them were very experienced, and even though Harry didn't understand exactly what they were doing, he could feel the power flowing off of the glowing runes they drew in the air. Finally, Medo lowered his wand, with a weary look at Sarah.

"Muggles can sometimes reset curses that have already been broken. In places very high in magical power, such as this, it is more likely. I do not know when he entered here, but we have not been back in this area of the catacombs for many months. That curse will stay deactivated for some time, I hope. In the meantime, let us press on."

Harry looked behind him to see how the others were taking this. Haroon appeared impassive, as if he had seen things like this hundreds of times before, and maybe he had, in sharp contrast to Draco, who was recognizable now that the polyjuice potion had worn off, who wore his horror clearly on his face, mixed with disgust and fear. Harry resisted the urge to comfort him. Malfoy would definitely not appreciated that. Instead, he turned back to the front. Sarah stared at him impassively, her harsh features not softened at all in the glow of their wands. Harry found himself wondering again what her life had been like for her to be so scarred. She gave him a half-smile, as if she could guess his thoughts, then turned around to follow Medo into the dark.

"Do you think there are a lot of those curses down here?" Malfoy asked in a high pitched voice. Harry started out of a reverie at the question.

"Err, I don't know. Probably. Why else would so many curse-breakers live in Egypt?"

"I was hoping it was because Egypt's history is interesting." Harry grinned a little. Malfoy was clearly out of his element here, and the sure, cocky man who he had been to breakfast with was completely gone.

"Don't worry, Malfoy, I'll protect you from the scary skeletons."

"Oh fuck off, Potter," Malfoy said, shoving him. Harry tried to avoid touching the unknown symbols as he fell against the wall.

"There are many such curses." Haroon's voice piped up from behind Harry. "But we know how to deal with them. We have been breaking them for centuries. There is no need to worry, Mr. Malfoy."

"I wasn't worried, you blithering sarcophagus," Malfoy retorted angrily. "I was just wondering." They fell into silence as they wandered through the corridors. The passages had begun to split, and ahead of them, Medo and Sarah were choosing the way, carefully marking the walls every time they branched off.

Suddenly, the tunnels opened up in front of them, giving way to a large, well lit room. Malfoy gripped Harry's arm suddenly. The walls were painted gold, with black markings along the ceiling, which curved into a high dome. Higher than should have been possible for being so far into a cliff-side. At the other end of the room, three wooden doors stood out against the sea of gold, intricately carved and painted with scenes of the Egyptian gods. However, what drew his eyes, and caused Malfoy to grab onto him, was what sat in the center of the room.

At first glance, it appeared to be a lion. It had the body of a lion, in any case, but larger than any lion had right to be. A large, tufted tail flicked back and forth behind its golden body, in a hypnotizing fashion. But the lion's head was human. She had long black hair, tamed into two braids on either side of her face. Her eyes were clearly Egyptian, slanted upwards in a way that would have been alluring on a human. Her lips were large and red, and grinning at the intrusive party as they entered. Harry recognized her as a sphinx, although this one was far larger than the one he had faced during the triwizard tournament.

"Guardian," Haroon said, bowing deeply before the creature. Harry followed suit, dragging Malfoy with him and keeping his eyes locked on the sphinx as though he were taming a hippogryph. The Sphinx's smile widened and she extended her head towards them.

"You do not look like thieves," she said in a soft sultry voice. "You look like ministry. I do not always eat ministry." Malfoy's grip on Harry tightened, and he felt nails digging into his arm.

"We are ministry," Haroon explained. "We search for one who commits great evil in this holy place. One that may threaten you as well."

"I may have seen this one," the Sphinx said slowly. "They came seeking a way out and carried no stolen treasure."

"Will you tell us which way they went, Guardian?"

"If you can answer my riddle." Her tone was mischievous and menacing all at once as she folded her front paws together and sunk down onto them.

"We will hear you riddle," Sarah called, her wand by her side, twitching towards the direction of the sphinx.

"If you remain silent, I will let you return the way you came. If you answer correctly, I will tell you what I know and let you pass through one door. If you do not answer correctly, well," she smiled at them pleasantly, cleaning her claws against one another.

"My riddle is thus:

 _Firstly, this is a word that the vain most love,_

 _what they see in the lake when their face lies above._

 _Next, What has no mouths but still has six faces,_

 _twenty-one eyes, blind and in different places?_

 _Last, I abbreviate something essential to life,_

 _my one branch forms a 'V' and eleven hydrogens I am rife._

 _All together, I encompass castles and kings,_

 _tell me the answer and away you shall wing._ "

The group pulled back to form a circle.

"The first word is me," Sarah said certainly, and Harry found himself agreeing with her.

"Yes, what of the others? Six faces?" Medo asked, face pulled up in concentration.

"Well," Sarah said slowly. "Essential to life with five Hydrogens. That's a chemical. Does anyone know any chemistry?" They all shook their heads. _Brilliant,_ he thought to himself.

"Six faces," Haroon mused. "How many dots does a die have?"

"Brilliant!" Sarah said, giving him a rare smile. "So we have 'medie'. And we miss the last word that forms another word. What was the last clue?"

"Castles and kings," Harry said slowly. "Medieval?" Medo clapped him on the back, and Haroon and Sarah looked impressed. Malfoy's worried face appeared a little less tense.

"Yes! Excellent, Harry," Haroon said, a broad grin on his face.

"Guardian, the answer is Medieval," Medo said confidently. The Sphinx smiled at them again.

"Well reasoned. Your target took the middle path, but the right path will take you to the same place more quickly. He was here yesterday, so I can not say where he will be today." She stood onto her magnificent legs, and stepped to the side of the room so they could pass. As Draco walked by her, she snapped her white teeth together playfully, and Harry felt the grip on his arm tighten to an almost painful level. Although strangely, he found he did not mind much.

They walked through the door on the right, with the goddess Isis painted on the front, and found themselves back in the dark once more.

"Potter, that was excellent," Sarah said in a solemn voice.

Harry grinned sheepishly. "I've been spending a lot of time with a friend who is actually good at riddles." He thanked his lucky stars that Hermione had gone through a riddle phase lately, and that he had retained some knowledge of the basic logic.

"For once I may be glad I have the famous scarhead here to save me," Draco whispered so that only Harry could hear him, and Harry felt a flush of warmth run through him at Draco's words. The taller man still hadn't let go of his grip on Harry, although he had loosened it to a more manageable level. Harry felt himself placing a hand on top of Draco's and squeezing it, although he wasn't exactly sure why. He released it quickly, just in case Malfoy was in a hexing mood.

Harry shivered in spite of himself as they carried on. The underground tunnels were becoming colder the farther in they managed to get. He found himself wishing for one of Hermione's fires in a jar to have with him. His feet were numb and his hands were cold; Malfoy's hand on his arm was the only thing keeping him from freezing it seemed. When they entered another larger chamber, mercifully Sphinx-less this time, Medo called a break for lunch. He handed out sandwiches from his backpack along with bottles of water, and they all sat along the edge of the round, gold room. Medo and Haroon were muttering to each other in arabic, probably deep in conversation about Egyptian history, and Sarah seemed content to sit by herself, closing her eyes as she ate. With no other options, Harry took a seat next to Malfoy, who gave him a haughty nod, as if he hadn't been gripping Harry's arm in fear all afternoon.

"Where do you suppose we'll sleep?" Harry asked, fumbling around for something to talk about.

"The dragon's lair of course," Malfoy drawled, a model of complete relaxation except for his hands, which gripped his sandwich hard enough to bruise the bread and turn his knuckles white.

"Malfoy, have you ever seen a sphinx before?" Harry was curious. He had only seen one because of the Triwizard Tournament, and he realized that they may not be common enough for most wizards to have seen them.

"No," Malfoy said shortly, with furrowed eyebrows. After a moment he continued reluctantly, "I've seen pictures, but they're bigger in real life. And the way she looked at me. As if she wanted to devour me." The blond man shuddered and fell silent.

"I nearly wet myself the first one I met. They feel the need to threaten you to make you more likely to mess up their riddles, I bet. I got lucky both times I've seen them now."

Malfoy sneered. "You didn't get lucky, Potter, you knew what you were doing. You were trained for this. Don't try to make me feel better."

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not! I mean it. I've never had to deal with a Sphinx in an uncontrolled area before and I was probably as terrified as you-"

"I wasn't bloody scared, Potter. Just, startled. That's all. And if you were a competent auror, you wouldn't have even been startled. I brew potions. The most dangerous creatures I have to deal with are live beetles. What's your excuse?" Harry leaned away, a little stung.

"I got us out of there, didn't I?" Malfoy grunted and returned to his sandwich. Sighing, Harry stood and moved to sit by Sarah instead.

She opened her eyes as he approached and surveyed him neutrally.

"Hello," he said in his most friendly tone.

"Hello, Mr. Potter. Troubles with Malfoy?"

Harry sighed frustratedly. "No, he's just a bit of a git. I can only take so much of him, you know."

"I know," she replied, closing her eyes again.

"What made you decide to come here?" Harry asked politely.

"I lived in Egypt as a curse-breaker for most of my twenties and half of my thirties," she replied amiably. "I suppose I missed it after a while. It has quite a charm that I haven't felt anywhere else."

"How long have you been a curse-breaker? What is the training like?"

"The training is brutal," she said bluntly. "They only allow the best of the best to complete it, for good reason. Life expectancy as a code-breaker is lower than most professions in our world. We train for three years, facing every kind of beast or spell imaginable. Then we apprentice for another year and take your vows to live under the Curse-Breaker's Code. I started when I was sixteen, fresh out of Ilvermorny. I worked with the code-breakers in America for a while, mostly at the Great Arches in Utah. When I was twenty-three, I came out here looking for adventure, which I certainly found. And then I retired to a desk job as a head curse-breaker with the MACUSA. I'm getting too old for adventure."

"What is the Curse-Breaker's Code?" Harry asked, fascinated.

"A set of laws we must abide by," she explained carefully. "Curse-Breakers of all nationalities must follow the same laws so that we don't set anything in motion that we can't control."

Harry had a million more questions. He had never really talked with a curse-breaker before, and he had had no idea the field was so interesting. He wanted to ask more, but Medo was already getting them on their feet to continue their trek. Resolving to ask her later, he fell back in line behind her, with Draco at his back again.


End file.
